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Hannibal Barca
Hannibal Barca (247-182 BC) was born in Carthage during the First Punic War. He was the eldest son of Hamilcar Barca, a Carthaginian general. From the time Hannibal was born he was taught to hate Romans, according to the Roman historian Livy , Hannibal's father even made him promise to hate Romans for as long as he lived. Throughout Hannibal's life his actions greatly affected history he was a great general and had many brilliant tactics on the battle field, his actions caused others to start conflicts, and also he forced Rome to think differently when it came to warfare. Hannibal was a man of great importance during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). He invaded Italy and won almost every single major battle, this was due to his great warfare strategies. Three battles that show Hannibal's brilliance on the battle field are the Battle of Trebia (218 BC), the Battle of Lake Trasimene (217 BC) and the Battle of Cannae (216 BC). At the Battle of Trebia Hannibal used his intelligence to defeat his opponent Tiberius Sempronius Longus. Hannibal was outnumbered thirty-two thousand to forty thousand, but luckily for him he found a hidden gully. He used this gully to his advantage and placed two thousand men under the command of his brother Mago Barca. The next morning Hannibal sent his cavalry across the river to provoke the Romans, by any means necessary. Hannibal’s plan worked perfectly Longus sent his cavalry to attack Hannibal’s and then he prepared his army to cross the river to fight Hannibal. Now Hannibal had the upper hand his army was well rested and ready to fight whereas the Roman army was tired and wet. The two armies went at each other with their infantry in the middle and cavalry protecting the sides, as the fight went on Hannibal’s cavalry beat the Roman cavalry and started picking at the sides of their flanks. Next, Mago and the two thousand men from the gully came in from behind the Roman army and helped finish them off (Richard, J.). Another, battle in which Hannibal’s intelligence is proven is the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Hannibal had gotten word that Gaius Flaminius Nepos was on his way to fight him. Thinking on his feet Hannibal planned to ambush Flaminius, since this would be the easiest way to beat his army and would have less Carthaginian causalities. Hannibal hid about fifty thousand men in the forested hills north of Lake Trasimene. He also ordered his men to light fires on the hills of Tuoro, to trick the Romans into thinking he was farther away than he actually was. There were about forty thousand men in the Roman army on its way to confront Hannibal, but unfortunately for them they were successfully ambushed while in marching formation and did not stand a chance. Many Romans were killed by Hannibal’s army; many others tried to escape but drowned in the lake. Only ten thousand Romans escaped the rest were either killed or captured, the Carthaginians suffered only two thousand five hundred causalities (Tennant, J.). The battle that erased any doubt the Roman’s might have had about Hannibal’s strength and aptitude, was the Battle of Cannae. Hannibal was greatly outnumbered by the Roman army lead by Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. Hannibal’s army consisted of fifty-six thousand men while the Romans had about eighty-seven thousand men. It seemed as though the Romans had the upper hand and in man power they did, but the Romans did not have a mind nearly comparable to Hannibal’s in the art of warfare. The Romans were reckless and thought that if they packed their legions tightly together and pushed hard into the center of Hannibal’s army it would help them win, but in reality Hannibal’s army just concaved and wrapped up the Romans on three sides. All this happened while the two armies’ cavalries were going at each other; Hannibal’s cavalry defeated the Roman cavalry and went to the back of the Roman legion completely encircling them. Hannibal’s men pushed the Romans closer and closer until they were basically unable to move, some men could not even lift their weapons. It was a killing Spree! Although there is contradiction on how many men were killed that day, according to the Greek historian Polybius seventy thousand Romans were killed ten thousand were captured and possibly the other three thousand survived. He also said that Hannibal’s army only lost five thousand seven hundred men (Tennant, J.). Due to Hannibal’s actions he also influences other civilizations to fight with each other. After winning the Battle of Cannae, Roman allies start to join Hannibal including many allies in the south of Italy, Sicily and the king of Macedon, Phillip V (Hooker, R.). Also after his victory at Cannae Hannibal tries to capture the ports of Cumae and Puteoli, in order to receive fresh troops and supplies from back home. Sadly for Hannibal and the Carthaginians he fails, Hannibal now focuses on southern Italy and takes control of Tarentum and other ports in 213 BC. This is of great importance because it allows Hannibal to have contact with Carthage. Just after this Rome starts an alliance with the Greek towns in Aetolia, and the Aetolian League starts a war with Macedonia, a Carthaginian ally (Lendering, J.). Rome is starting to think more critically when it comes to war, this will help them eventually win the war. In 209 BC Rome recaptures Tarentum and now Carthage will not risk sending more troops and equipment to Hannibal. This could be one of Rome’s first smart moves, but it does not stop there. In 206 BC Publius Cornelius Scipio appointed to proconsul by the senate of Rome, takes back control of Spain by taking the Carthaginian capital of Iberia, Cartagena. This cut off the last of Hannibal’s resources, in a desperate attempt to get reinforcements Hannibal asked his brother Hasdrubal Barca, (who was at this time in charge of Iberian armies) for help. Rome intercepts Hasdrubal before he can reach his brother and is defeated at the river Metaurus, crushing Hannibal’s hope to get reinforcements (Lendering, J.). Another thing that proves that Rome is dealing with Hannibal better is that in 203 BC Scipio brings the war to Carthage. The Carthaginian government panics and calls Hannibal and his remaining men home. In 202 BC one last battle is fought between Hannibal and Scipio, this battle is called the Battle of Zama. Both armies have about thirty-five to forty thousand men and are pretty evenly matched. Scipio had a better trained infantry and because the battle was so delayed it gave time for a Numidia cavalry to join him, he also had a better cavalry. Despite this Hannibal had a strong elephant corps and his veterans from the Italy campaign, who were consider among the best soldiers in the world. Scipio thought on his feet and realized how to deal with the elephants, so he separated his troops into three lines and filled the gaps with skirmishers. When the elephants charged in they were brought through the gaps by the skirmishers and trumpet players which Scipio had commanded to play as long as they could to distract the elephants, this worked extremely well. Almost instantly after this the Roman cavalry charged at the Carthaginian cavalry, the Carthaginian cavalry fled and the Roman’s chased them. Now this battle was infantry against infantry, the Roman’s charge and got stopped by the Carthaginian’s first line, but they kept pushing until the first line started to fall back and the second line levels their weapons into them. The third line which is made up of Hannibal’s veterans pushes the first two lines to the sides and Scipio copies and widens his army. Both sides are evenly matched and it could go either way, but the Roman cavalry returns and attacks the Carthaginian’s rear (www.roman-empire.net). Hannibal influenced fighting strategies, started conflicts between other civilizations and made Rome a more powerful militarist empire. For this we will remember Hannibal Barca and his contribution to our history, because without him Rome may not have been able to beat other enemies it had to face and this could have greatly changed how the world is today. Lendering, Jona. "Hannibal." Livius. Articles on Ancient History. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. http://www.livius.org/ha-hd/hannibal/hannibal.html. Richard, Hooker. "Rome: The Punic Wars." Washington State University - Pullman, Washington. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ROME/PUNICWAR.HTM. Richard, J. "Battle of the Trebia." Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_trebia.html. Tennant, James. "The Battle Of Lake Trasimene: Rome Rashly Pursues Hannibal To The Trasimeno, Eager For Victory." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 27 Nov. 2009. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. http://www.suite101.com/content/the-battle-of-lake-trasimene-a174441. Tennant, James. "The Battle Of Cannae: The Largest Roman Army Ever Assembled Marches To Destroy Hannibal." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 27 Nov. 2009. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. http://www.suite101.com/content/the-battle-of-cannae-a174444. "The Battle of Zama." The Roman Empire. Web. 23 Dec. 2010. http://www.roman-empire.net/army/zama.html.